Rose
by santana the strange
Summary: Romeo and Juliet were childhood sweethearts but after an accident left her with amnesia she forgot all about him and the memory loss sparked a war between Juliet's new man Paris and Romeo's family. A modern version of Shakespeare's beloved Romeo and Juliet.


Juliet Capulet awoke with a start when the train came to a sudden halt. She brushed her long jet black ringlets from her face and sat up in her seat to look around and take in her surroundings. They seemed to be at one of the stations along the way to Glastonbury. Just a few more to go now and they would be there, at the Hell's Awakening festival.

As much as she was excited for the festival and to see her favourite band, The Orange Acids, she still wished she could have stayed at home with her room full of books and her loyal laptop. Juliet hated being pulled away from her sanctuary when she was working on a novel. She also hated it when her friends took that distraction away from her. After all how else was she supposed to keep her mind off Paris when he was out of town?

Paris was Juliet's boyfriend, the first and only one she would ever have. He had always been there for her. She'd met him the day she'd been discharged from the hospital after her accident. In fact he was the doctor who had helped her up when she had slipped and fallen onto the floor on the way out. It had been clear that her coordination skills had been damaged slightly due to the collision. Once she'd been back on solid ground he had given her his number and asked her to give him a call sometime. They'd gone for coffee, talked and been dating ever since. That was six years ago and she was so in love with him that she hated when they were separated.

As she reminisced about her love, Juliet felt her phone vibrate and excitedly reached for it in her bag. She flipped the device open, and her face fell when she read the text message. It was yet another message not from Paris. Two weeks he'd been on his business trip to France and two weeks had passed since he'd contacted her in any way.

'Maybe he's just busy,' Juliet mused as she raised her arm to the window beside her and rest her head there, to just gaze out the window at the ever changing scenery. 'I wonder what he's doing right now,' she whispered to herself before checking her phone to see that it was still very early morning. Paris would probably be prepping for surgery right now. Juliet wouldn't bother him. There were lives at stake. Lives that her boyfriend saved and made better every single day of his selfless life. No wonder she had fallen in love with him. He was perfect.

'Don't bother yourself with him Juliet. You're going to a festival with us, you'll have a great time. Just give in and let it take your mind off everything.' Juliet turned to see her best friend and sister in law Nurse talking to her. She was about to speak when their friend Natalie opened her mouth and ruined Nurse's attempts of being civil.

'What Nurse means to say is that there is absolutely no chance that Paris is thinking of you so don't bother yourself thinking about a guy who's probably cheating on you as we speak. After all no surgeries happen this early in the morning,' Natalie commented with a blasé attitude as she acquired her own phone and started texting away. Juliet looked at Nurse who didn't quite know where to put herself.

It was no secret how Juliet's friends felt about her choice of boyfriend. There wasn't one of them that had a nice thing to say about the man, or a supportive thing to say about her relationship. Her brother didn't agree with the man, but that was nothing unusual, her brother didn't like any man being anywhere near his little sister. He had a right to be protective of her; he'd nearly lost her once, he didn't want to lose her a second time.

Juliet was too sick and tired to try and talk her friends into liking the man she had fallen in love with. It had been six years since she'd met the guy and she was sick and tired of wasting her breath to show them that he was a really nice guy. So instead of talking to Nurse or Natalie and causing a stupid argument that would ruin the whole train journey and possibly the festival, she turned to her bag and acquired her favourite novel of all time, A Crime Unsolved by R. Montague.

She had barely opened the book when her brother raised an eyebrow at her over the top of the thing. Curious she closed her book, put it down on the table and gave Tybalt her full attention. Was he going to comment on their friends' remarks or was he going to comment on her plan to be as antisocial as possible with her reading? She didn't know and that was what piqued her curiosity so much. But if he was going to stick up for his friend then she didn't know what she was going to do, maybe sit in the toilet for the last hour of the journey and read her book?

'Yes Tybalt?' She asked as politely as she could, after all he was still her brother, the only sibling that she had. And he had been so protective of her when it came to the lustful gazes of men.

'We finally get you out of the house after pestering you for months and you just sit there and read?' He asked in disbelief and she breathed a deep breath she didn't realise she had been holding. Juliet smiled at him fondly. She could always count on him to take her mind off her troubles.

'I can't help it. I love this book,' Juliet sighed as she ran her hand over the glossy cover of a body under morgue sheet. There was just something about crime novels that heated her blood.

'You've read that book a million times now, surely,' Tybalt said and yet his tone was not patronising; no he was questioning. He wanted to know what had intrigued her so much about the book. Well if he'd opened the book on any page but the author's foreword and photograph then maybe he would have seen why.

'I don't know Tybalt, there's just something about this book that speaks to me. I mean, there's a romance, true love, a terrible accident and amnesia. I mean how you can expect that not to speak to me, shocks me. R. Montague, he's the most beautiful writer I have ever had the privilege to read from. I am so glad you lent me this book all those years ago.'

'Well I don't know about Montague's writing skills, but have you seen his photograph?' Nurse said and Tybalt took the book from Juliet's hands and there was a sharp pang in her chest and she curbed the ferocious desire to grab the book right back. Juliet watched instead as he turned to the last page where the photo of the author resided.

Juliet tried to tear her gaze from her favourite author but it was a losing battle. She didn't want Tybalt to know how attractive she thought Montague was. After all she had the perfect boyfriend and would have the perfect life once she encouraged her friends and family to accept that perfect boyfriend. Nobody could know how hard it was for her to put down that book because she felt an intense connection with the author. It wasn't merely a literary connection, his photograph spoke to her and sometimes late at night she dreamt of him. And in those dreams they made passionate, perfect love and he gazed down at her as though there was nowhere he'd rather be, nobody he'd rather be with.

'You have seen his photograph!' Tybalt said and Juliet raised her hands to her cheeks, they had flamed red, she could feel them! Oh no, what would Tybalt think? She didn't want to give him or anyone else hope because she was attracted to another male that wasn't her boyfriend.

Unfortunately Tybalt's exclamation had alerted Natalie and Nurse who both raised their eyebrows at her knowingly. After all they were both very heterosexual women and must have known the lustful dreams she had concerning Montague, after all her blush had told all of them.

'I can't help how my body reacts to his image, he's a handsome man!' Juliet hissed back at them and they all exchanged looks as Tybalt pushed the book over to her side. 'Now would you leave me to read in peace?' She asked and when they gave her looks she sighed and claimed her headphones and turned on the new Orange Acids album as she started once more at the beginning of the book.

She raised her eyes from the page many times and each time she realised that her three closest friends were talking amongst themselves. The music had blocked out most of their voices but she could read lips. They were talking to themselves, asking if she remembered. What she remembered or didn't remember did that really concern them? When they decided they didn't, Nurse pulled out her mobile phone once more and started texting someone again.

Juliet's eyes narrowed and she placed down her book as a sudden realisation hit her. The beautiful blonde was always on her phone and it was more than just a quick fleeting text. Did the devoted policewoman have a man? Juliet wanted to pry, oh did she want to pry, but she decided to keep quiet, lest they try to talk her into going and finding Montague. After all they would probably prefer him to Paris even though her chances were slim to none of even meeting him let alone dating him. At this rate they'd rather she dated a politician.

Romeo's tanned hands tightened around the steering wheel and he rubbed his eyes as a noise in the back seat alerted him. He used the rear view mirror to see his brother Benvolio on his phone. His identical twin brother started texting back with a smile on his face. Romeo didn't know what the guy was so happy about but that happiness still grated on his nerves. If his brother could be happy then why shouldn't he be allowed?

Romeo barely stifled a yawn as he drove onto a different section of the motorway. This festival had better be worth the effort he was taking. He was pages, pages away from the end of his new novel and his friends thought his time would be better spent at a concert. Yes Hell's Awakening was hosting some of his greatest friends and favourite bands, but still his fans deserved the next instalment of the series. Romeo knew what he had been like when he was younger, always excited for the next crime novel. He loved crime almost as much as he loved his literature, almost as much as they had loved their literature. His gaze lowered to his hands and he turned the right one over to see these words inked there, 'Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath.'

'Did you sleep at all last night?' His best friend's voice entered his mind, removing him from the disastrous thoughts that were on the outskirts of his consciousness. Romeo smiled gratefully and turned his wrist over. He didn't want Mercutio reminded that he was still in love with the woman and that she was never coming back. Romeo didn't need a pity festival, nor did the other guys. He owed them, for their support and their unconditional love. He would not mention her at all the entire weekend.

'No, I was… working on the novel.' It was a part truth, for he had been working on the novel whilst gazing at a picture of her with tears glistening in his eyes. How could she not remember them? How could she not remember everything they'd been through together? She had remembered him for all of ten minutes after her coma and that last kiss had been the most precious treasure on the entire planet. And the money in all the world could not compete. As an exceedingly successful author he knew all about money, knew that it couldn't help you forget your pain.

'At least you're keeping busy,' Mercutio muttered and picked up Romeo's manuscript. Best friend and partners in crime, they had both been very interested in English at school. As an Olympian Mercutio didn't have as much time as Romeo did to write novels, but he still liked being part of the process and the grammatically correct male loved to check his friends works for errors. 'Now this bit about the new boyfriend being the one who had tried to run her over that morning, you want to keep with this?'

Romeo's gaze was determined as he nodded his head. Yes he did.

'So who are you excited to see?' Ben asked Mercutio who paused with his reading and lowered the manuscript.

'Well I know my cousin is "psyched" to see Orange Acids,' Mercutio answered and Romeo nearly stomped on the breaks in his rage. Why was he not told about this turn of events? Surely he should have been made aware at least!

'Juliet's going to be there?' He asked through gritted teeth and two concerned gazes followed his words. They looked like they thought he had finally lost it, that depression had taken over him and dragged him into the abyss. After all Juliet was an innocent woman and still only human. Why should Romeo hold a grudge against her? The fact was he didn't, at the very least he shouldn't.

'I didn't want to tell you,' Mercutio apologised. 'You know in case you decided against going just because she was there.'

'I didn't want to come anyway. I wanted to stay at home and finish my novel, but you two had to drag me to this god forsaken festival. Why?'

'We just thought maybe this time it would be different, what with Paris out of the country. At least this way you could talk to her without the guy breathing down your neck and steering her away from you. You deserve to be her friend at least.' Ben's words were logical and Romeo knew that he couldn't hate his friends for what they were trying to do for him. They just wanted him to be happy. Maybe this way he could be. Romeo and Juliet had been great friends once upon a time, if given the chance they would be once more. If the stars willed it then perhaps Romeo's love would come back to him. Wherever she was.

'Thanks guys, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just really tired. But you know could we not talk about how many other people can't remember me?' He asked and they nodded their head in unison. Romeo smiled at them, they really were the best friends a guy could get. 'So how's Nurse doing these days?' He asked, wanting to change the subject.

'She's coping. It's still so painful for her,' Mercutio replied and Romeo nodded solemnly.

'The scar still bothering her?'

'No, it's the emotional wounds that have yet to heal.'

'It's been six years man!' Romeo exclaimed and Mercutio glared at him.

'It's been six years man!' He reiterated and Romeo shot him a dirty look.

'You know it's not the same, you have your woman.'

'And you still have the chance to have a family, once she remembers you.' Mercutio's words were sane, but the tiny self-destruct voice in the back of Romeo's head kept yelling, telling him that she would never remember him that they would never have the family they had craved as young lovers. He looked at the tattoo once more and stroked his left thumb over it, reminded of the day that the two of them had gotten matching tattoos.

'Awake forever in a sweet unrest, still, still to hear her tender-taken breath…' Romeo trailed off with a yawn and she elbowed him in the chest when his eyes drooped closed. When he yawned again she finished the poem for him.

'And so live ever—or else swoon to death.' The door before her opened and the proprietor of the store entered, a set of packaged needles in his hand and a sterilising kit in the other. She grinned excitedly and her brow crumpled adorably as she tried to think which of the lines of their favourite poem she would have for their matching tattoos. 'That one!' She declared loudly and Romeo awoke with a start.

'Which one?' He asked groggily and his cousin smiled.

'You going to sleep through this one too buddy?' Gerome asked and Romeo bared his teeth at the man. 'Okay, how about we give your girl a chance to get her tattoo done first?' He asked and turned to her expectantly.

'I want the last line of that poem Gerome. Keats sums up all my love for Romeo in that one line. He really must have been a psychic for I think our love was his muse,' she told him and he escorted her to the chair and asked her to hop up so he could tattoo her wrist. It was her first tattoo, but it would be something to remind her of this day should anything happen to either of them.

'I love you baby,' Romeo told her and she smiled like the love sick teen she was.

'I love you…' she trailed off when the needle pierced her skin. She winced but then she started to giggle, earning a stern look from Gerome.

'Look honey, I can amputate the arm and then sew it back if that's what you want,' he told her and they all laughed. Romeo loved his cousin almost as much as he loved his girl and she knew that.

Her tattoo was over in less than an hour and it was Romeo's turn. He already seemed to know which line he wanted and as she stood there beside the chair she watched Gerome ink in the penultimate line of their favourite poem.

'As long as I hear you breathing I will forever be alright with the world.'


End file.
